


Rice, Salt, and Tears

by Jathis



Category: Sofia the First (Cartoon)
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Forgiveness, Hopeful Ending, Kneeling, M/M, Madness, king Cedric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-19
Updated: 2021-03-19
Packaged: 2021-03-28 18:36:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30143844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jathis/pseuds/Jathis
Summary: The mad king of Enchancia breaks
Relationships: Baileywick/Cedric the Sorcerer
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	Rice, Salt, and Tears

It was the royal steward’s perfect posture that annoyed him the most. Baileywick had been put outside of the castle where everyone could see him, out in a spot where there was no shade from the sun or covering from any rain. He knelt with his arms bent at the elbows and bound at his back. He had been beaten across the shoulders and the small of his back with a leather strap, long red marks left behind. Rice and coarse salt had been spread out on the ground, digging painfully into the older man’s knees. He was dressed in the uniform the king had specially made for him; the corset, the heels, and a thin pair of breeches for the occasion. He had been like that for hours now, his face expressionless. He had not even been seen to shift on his knees to try and adjust his position. 

Wormwood hissed and spat furiously on the king’s shoulder, feathers fluffed up in anger. “You should kill him. You should have killed him long ago!” the raven snarled. “Now you’ve caught him with letters from Roland and the other bloody Royals! He knows where they’re hiding! You should be forcing him to tell you where they are!”

“He’s being punished,” Cedric murmured.

“He looks like he’s ready to take a nap!” Wormwood protested.

Cedric hissed, turning to bare his teeth at his familiar. He slapped a hand down on the rim of the window he was looking down at Baileywick from. “Wormwood! I am the king! Not you!” he said.

“More’s the pity! I would make a far better king than you!” Wormwood squawked. He took flight before Cedric swung out at him in anger, hanging in the air above his head. “You fool! You’re going to end up losing everything we have fought for!”

“This kingdom is mine!”

“You’re going to lose it because of your foolish love for an old man!” The raven just barely missed being struck with a spell Cedric threw at him. “I will not stay here and watch you lose everything. You can have your head placed on a pike alone! I am not going to be executed with a fool for a master!”

Cedric snarled, firing random bursts of magic at the raven with his family wand. Holes were gouged out of the walls and floors where they connected, sending chips of marble and stone everywhere. “Go then! See if I care! You are exiled from my kingdom! I never want to see your feathered face again!” he shouted. 

He barely stopped himself from snapping his wand in his anger. Cedric forced himself to take a deep breath through his nose, holding it before slowly breathing out through his mouth. His heart was pounding but the trembling in his limbs had stopped. He glanced out the window again, looking down at Baileywick. The royal steward was as perfectly still as he had been hours ago and the marks across his back had started to fade.

The king hugged his cloak to himself, stroking the soft material for comfort before walking away. Cedric was the king. Enchancia belonged to him. He could do whatever he wanted and to whoever he wanted.

Baileywick kept still as he heard Cedric approaching him from behind. A trembling hand came down on his shoulder and slowly warmed as Cedric ran both of his hands down his bound arms. He waited for the other to speak first, keeping his eyes forward.

“Tell me where they are,” Cedric whispered.

“You know I won’t.” The grip on his arms tightened briefly before relaxing.

“I am your king.”

“You’re not a king.” Cedric’s slender arms hugged him around his middle, pressing him against the other’s chest.

“I want you to love me,” Cedric murmured into his gray hair.

“You didn’t have to steal a kingdom for that,” he whispered.

Silence hung between the two. Slowly Cedric untied Baileywick, rubbing feeling back into his arms and wrists. He buried his face in Baileywick’s hair and nuzzled into it as he held the still man. “You hate me,” he whispered.

“I don’t hate you.”

“Liar,” he bitterly said. “Everyone hates me. Wormwood left me.”

“I’m still here.”

Cedric seemed to perk up at this declaration. “Yes, yes you are,” he said. His eyes started to burn with tears.

He closed his eyes as he felt Cedric sob into his neck. He reached up with a hand, stroking the younger man’s hair. “Cedric?”

“Mm?”

“My knees are bleeding.” The sorcerer was up in a flash at this declaration. Slowly Baileywick stood up, wincing at the sound of soft pops and cracks as his legs were finally used again. He was unsure how he had managed to keep himself together with the salt burning in his wounds.

The mad king of Enchancia dropped to his knees in front of him, tending to his wounds with his wand. He fretted over every little scratch and bruise on his body and only stopped when Baileywick touched the top of his head with a hand. He looked up at him, tears falling down his cheeks.

“I think it is time for this to end,” Baileywick whispered, wiping away Cedric’s cheeks with a thumb.

“They know everything, don’t they?”

“I told them everything,” he agreed.

“When are they coming?”

“Tonight.”

He blinked in surprise and raised his eyebrows. “So soon?”

“I have been planning this since you first took over,” Baileywick gently reminded him.

“...they’re going to kill me, aren’t they?”

“No, I will not allow that to happen,” he promised.

Cedric shook his head in disbelief, “Roland…” 

“Roland will spare your life because I have asked him to already.”

He blinked and looked up at Baileywick. The older man looked down at him, sincerity all over his face. “You asked him to,” he whispered.

Baileywick nodded, smiling down at him as he stroked his cheek with the backs of his fingers. “Of course I did.”

Cedric burst into a fresh bout of sobs. He threw his arms around the other’s middle, burying his face against his stomach. The crown he had been wearing fell from his head with a loud clatter before settling beside him.

Tenderly Baileywick held him, rubbing the back of his head and shoulders as he wept. He watched from the corner of his eye as the banners Cedric had hung up were torn down, the old royal seal of Enchancia being put back in their place. Later the Royal family would be back with an army of supporters around them to secure the throne; for now it was just Baileywick and Cedric.


End file.
